Some vehicles such as vans and minivans, for example, may include one or more sliding door assemblies. Conventional sliding door assemblies typically include a door slidably supported relative to a vehicle by three discrete tracks. For example, the vehicle may incorporate a first track located proximate to a floor panel of the vehicle, a second track located proximate to a roof panel of the vehicle, and a third track located between the first track and the second track and proximate to a C-pillar of the vehicle. The first track, second track, and third track cooperate to support the door relative to the vehicle and to control movement of the door between a closed position and an open position. Specifically, each of the first, second, and third tracks may receive first, second, and third guide members associated with the door that permit the door to move relative to the vehicle. Further, the first track, the second track, and the third track each cooperate to support the overall weight of the sliding door and maintain the stability of the door throughout the range-of-motion of the door when moving between the closed state and the open state.
While conventional sliding door assemblies adequately guide and support sliding doors relative to a vehicle, sliding-side doors conventionally have only been incorporated into vehicles having a substantially flat or uniform side panel that can efficiently accommodate the length of the middle track and can permit clearance of the sliding-side door when moving from the closed state to the open state. As such, sliding doors have conventionally been reserved for vans and minivans that have a substantially flat, elongated side panel and were not incorporated into vehicles having a somewhat short and uneven side panel such as a sedan, sport-utility vehicle, or truck, as such vehicles may not have been able to properly accommodate the length of a conventional middle track.